Game: Down To Earth
A game featuring Eotyrannus as the GM, XenoGenos as Krarbak, Rjsilcox as Kaine and Holbenilord as Inniel. Krarbak has been scouting out the planet as a potential Hive base, but has fallen into trouble. After sending out a distress call, it was picked up by two other aliens: Kaine (who had been on the way past the planet) and Inniel (who had been scavenging it). Chapter 1 Holben 1 You have landed on the ruins of the Planet Earth. It is not known how it was destroyed, but according to your research, it seems to have been some sort of temporal accident. That's not important to you, though. What is important is the valuable scraps from after the fall of the Human civilisation on this planet. Soon after you touch down, though, you detect a distress call. It's rather blurry, but it seems to be offering a reward for help... 2 Inniel steps out, in human form. She takes a deep breath, then heads towards the location of the distress call. 3 It's probably going to take a while before you reach it. As you walk, though, you see a spaceship heading down. Looks like you're not the only one who had the bright idea to help out. You hear a slight buzzing noise in the background. 4 Inniel tests to see if there are any viable targets for "extract information" nearby. Also, psychic shield. 5 You set up a psychic shield. There's obviously some insects a way aways, but somehow you doubt that they're good targets. More concerning is the presence of a near-sapient mind nearby. 6 Let's investigate that, then. Inniel walks over. 7 You approach the direction of the mind, coming to a building. You catch a fleeting glimpse of a fast-moving creature near the top. The buzzing has grown louder. The insectoid minds are coming closer, too, and their distance seems to coincide with the growth in noise. You realise that, if they're linked, these insects might not be the kind that you could squish under your heel... 8 I keep getting closer. I use maximum stealth mode and try to see what's going on. 9 The mammalian mind seems to be leaving at a fast pace. You hide. The insects seem to be spreading out, and fortunately, only one insect appears. It's massive. It must be nearly 4 metres long, and its telsons and massive eyes seem to indicate a carnivorous lifestyle. And this carnivore has noticed you, despite your best efforts to blend in using this form. It lifts itself into the air. 10 Eeep. Four shots, three 54 (k) hits. Psychic shield, mental lash. 11 You shoot the insect dead. Its carapace seems to have absorbed some of the impact, which is worrying. If you had worse aim, that thing could have reached you. Now that you mention that, though, two more emerge. One comes out from the alleyway, and the appears from the top of a building. 12 Repeat the same process! Four hits this time, and an eldritch storm because I don't need to restore my shield. 13 The one on the ground is shot to death. The insect on the roof dives towards you, but flails wildly as it is caught within a burst of psychic energy. The corpse crunches satisfyingly as it hits the floor. You look over the corpses, but they don't seem to be carrying any valuable-looking material. Unless the corpse of a 4-metre-long insect is valuable by its own merits. 14 Inniel doesn't seem to think it is. She heads down the large street, still seeking the ship. 15 As you walk down it, your vision catches movement. A large mammalian life form charges across the street, too fast for you to get a proper look. This does, however, draw your attention to another dead insect. Its shell seems to have been hit by multiple heat rays, from the localised charring you can see on it. 16 Welp, ghost snake mode, and use super-agility and super-stealth to follow it. 17 You continue following the creature, and eventually catch up to it as it slows down. It seems to have adapted a large container of some sort into a nest. Despite your stealth, it looks directly at you with its eyeless face, before rapidly scaling the building next to its den and disappearing again. 18 What did it look like? 19 From what you saw of it, it walked on the knuckles of two long claws. Its front limbs were very long, while the back were considerably shorter. It seemed to be completely bald. Its head was large and bulbous, with two nostrils and a large ridge going down the centre. The animal's back was hunched. From the odd head shape and lack of eyes, you presume it senses its environment with a different sense. Psionics, perhaps, although echolocation or electroreception might also work. You hear a rhythmic sound, although it is very faint. Rjsilcox and Xeno 1 Kaine lands on the broken and ancient street of a Terran city. You have detected a distress call, and from what you can see, the bodies of various armed insectoid aliens are strewn around, intermingled with the bodies of a mammalian life form. Five still-living mammalian life forms are clawing at a door... Krarbak is forcing himself to keep a door shut. Soon after your ship landed, a group of hostile aliens ambushed you and killed the others with their blinding speed. You've sent out a distress call, offering a reward if you make it out alive. You hear the engines of a space-ship, and the aliens let up a bit as they turn their heads to look... 2 Kaine plans to sneak up on one of the life forms when they move away from the others, kill it with his stunning tentacle and then use its shapeshifting to assume its appearance. In doing so, he can then try to communicate with the creatures and learn what they are doing/what they want. (Two dice were rolled: 6 and a 2). Krarbak tries to shoot one of the mammalian animals with his hand machine gun (?), aiming at it through the pod's door. 3 Kaine's attempts to sneak are futile. Despite their lack of eyes, their senses must be extraordinary, as 4 of them split off from the door with a sprint towards you. Krarbak puts his gun through the door, and fires. The spray of bullets catches it by surprise, killing it in a moment. 4 Kaine has no time for the savages if they choose to try and strike him down. He releases an eldritch storm, and takes out his dual firearms for any unfortunate soul that dares to not die. Should any of the vermin survive the psychic attack, the shard gun is fired three times (with a 1 in 2 chance of success) and the shard pistol is fired once (with a 1 in 3 chance of hitting). Krarbak is motivated by the first kill, and opens the pod door a little bit more so he can get a better shooting angle for the rest of the group. He hopes he can take out more if he just keep shooting, as they are all nearby. 5 Three of the four creatures are caught, but one manages to sprint away from the storm and flee to safety. Apparently, it has decided that its chances for survival are not good if it sticks around. There is an awkward silence between the insectoid alien and the jellyfish alien. 6 Krarbak witnesses the destruction dealt with the creatures by the unknown alien. He senses that the other creature feels uneased by him holding the machine gun, so he lowers it. After all, if the creature wanted him dead, it could have done so by now, and with a lot of ease, considering how it kiled 4 of those in an instant. Kaine moves closer to the bug, but ensures that there is still enough space between them to make a clear shot at its head. Suddenly, Krarbak receives complex data in the form of a thought pattern, coming from the floating alien - "Did you send the signal?" He tries to reply back, although skeptical he can perform the same thing with equal success - "Correct. Correct. I do. I did. Need help. Outnumbered. Matrix killed. Alone. Big burden. Must fix. Must survive. Must repopulate. Help Krarbak. I reward. If success". Kaine looks at the thing curiously. Is it worth wasting his time trying to help it? Then again...if he doesn't, what will he do instead? Kaine reopens the thought pathway. "Well, Krarbak, what do you want me to do?" Krarbak is fascinated by the precise and concise thought transfer by the jellyfish-like alien. Its obvious their species are capable of individual thought transfer as profound, deep, and complex, as they have, but only when they are part of the hive network. Thinks hard to make sure he doesn't send bits again, and tries to handle his thoughts more precisely - "Help Krarbak fight native pests. Kill enemy that destroyed matrix. Help clean planet. Ready for new Hive node. I reward you with material valuables? Is Mindstormer content? Does it want a different reward?" Material valuables? Well, that's certainly precise. Regardless, this...whatever it is...apparently has a homeworld beyond this planet. If it sent a distress signal, it must also have a ship. It's a shame the ship still isn't active- or is it? Kaine's mind starts working through the possibilities. His blasters lower slightly. "Very well. I, the Mindstormer, shall aid you in your journey to your planet, and I shall destroy your enemies. In return, you will give me your material values. First and foremost, I will see what remains of the vessel you used to arrive here." Krarbak hopes he left a better impression now. He is always eager to prove himself better. Even when he is not. He responds - "I come with eject pod. Can travel at sub-light speeds. Has armor and weapons. But armor and weapons damaged on arrival. Systems crashed. Krarbak has no time to fix pod. Krarbak got attacked. Krarbak not sure he can save pod. Planet has remnant technology. But only half needed to repair pod. Or possibly reconstruct a larger vessel. Krarbak is a Hive drone. Krarbak has skill in building. Needs biologically compatible materials. Krarbak dies inside pod if not." Looking into the pod, Kaine realises that it is infected with a virus. Unfortunately, he does not have the capacity to fix the blasted thing, and he has no intention of reparing any weapons for the bug...well, not yet, at least. Kaine takes the armour and weapons and has rarkak carry them, and motions to the bug to follow him back to his ship. 7 You return to the ship. Everything seems fine for now.